Tommy Wirkola

Tommy Wirkola (born 6 December 1979) is a Norwegian filmmaker. He is known for his film work in hybrid thrillers that combine horror, action and satire, including Dead Snow and Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (2014), which were both selected for the Sundance Film Festival.

For his hybrid genre-focused work, he has won numerous awards and nominations. Dead Snow won the and was nominated for four Scream Awards including Best Horror Film. Dead Snow 2 won him Best Film at the Horror Film Festival, Best Director at the International Fantastic Film Festival and Best Screenplay as well as Best Film at Alamo Drafthouse's Fantastic Festival in 2014. What Happened to Monday was nominated for Variety's Piazza Grande Award at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2017. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013) was nominated for the People's Choice Award for Best Horror Film. Violent Night (2022) was nominated for Most Outstanding Stunt Performance at the ACTRA Awards as well as for Best Original Score at the International Film Music Critics Awards and at the Reel Music Film Festival.

Early life Wirkola is of Sami-Finnish and Kven ancestry.

Career Wirkola's first film was 2007's Kill Buljo, which he co-wrote with Stig Frode Henriksen. They later collaborated on the 2009 horror comedy Dead Snow, the 2010 mockumentary Kurt Josef Wagle and the Legend of the Fjord Witch, and the 2014 sequel to Dead Snow, Red vs. Dead.

In 2012 Wirkola directed & produced the television comedy series Hellfjord. Consisting of seven thirty minute episodes, the series is about an Oslo police officer who is banished to a small village after accidentally killing his police horse.

Wirkola's first English-language, large-budget film, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, was released in 2013 to mainly negative reviews. Starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton, the film was nevertheless a financial success, grossing $226.3 million worldwide on a budget of $50 million.

What Happened to Monday, a science fiction film starring Noomi Rapace and Willem Dafoe, and the dark comedy The Trip, also starring Rapace, were released in 2017 and 2021 respectively.

Wirkola's next film, Violent Night, a dark comedy starring David Harbour as a vigilante Santa Claus, was released in December 2022. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $76.6 million worldwide.

Wirkola co-directed the 2024 animated musical sex comedy Spermageddon, a dual narrative focusing on both a teenage couple having sex for the first time and Simen the Semen and his friends in a quest for the Egg.

In May 2024, it was announced that Wirkola had signed with Columbia Pictures to develop a survival thriller titled Beneath the Storm, with Phoebe Dynevor cast in the lead role. That August, principal photography began in Australia, with Whitney Peak and Djimon Hounsou joining the cast. In March 2025, the film was renamed Shiver.

Filmography Year TitleDirectorWriterEditor 2006 Remake 2007 Kill Buljo 2009 Dead Snow 2010 Kurt Josef Wagle and the Legend of the Fjord Witch 2013 Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters 2014 Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead 2017 What Happened to Monday 2021 The Trip 2022 Violent Night 2024 Spermageddon 2026 Thrash

Acting roles Year Title Role 2006 Remake Attendant 2 2007 Kill Buljo Sid Wisløff 2009 Dead Snow Dying Zombie Tomme Tønner Gjørme-Knut 2013 Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters Deputy #4

Awards and nominations